Printer technology continues to advance, resulting in commercially available printers having faster speed, increased print quality, and improved features. A wide range of printers are commercially available, ranging from relatively inexpensive “desktop” models with few features to more expensive “printing press” models that have many features and expandable options.
Many printers offer optional accessories that are attached to the input or output of the printer. One or more of these optional accessory devices may be connected serially to perform various functions, such as binding documents, stapling documents, hole-punching documents, or depositing a document into an appropriate mailbox.
When passing document pages from one device to another (e.g., from a printer to a stapling device), it is important that the output speed of one device matches the input speed of the other device so that the pages move between the two devices at a constant speed. If the output speed of one device does not match the input speed of the next device, paper handling problems can occur. For example, if the output speed of the first device is slower than the input speed of the second device, then the second device will be trying to “pull” the paper out of the first device, which may damage the paper handling mechanism in the first device or may tear the paper. If the output speed of the first device is faster than the input speed of the second device, then the second device cannot receive the paper fast enough, which may cause the paper to wrinkle and create a paper jam.
In certain existing systems, all devices operate at the same speed (i.e., all devices have the same input speeds and output speeds). These systems provide relatively simple operation because there are no paper handling speed differences from one device to the next.
In systems having a printer with variable output speeds, the printer's output speed is adjusted to match the speed of the next device. However, if a device with a particular output speed is coupled to the input of the printer, problems occur if the printer changes its linear speed. In this situation, paper handling problems occur because the output speed of the device no longer matches the input speed of the printer.
The embodiments described herein address these and other problems using an improved method and system for configuring the input and output speeds of multiple media-handling devices coupled to one another.